Maintaining the conviction of the accused, the Judge today set aside his sentence of imprisonment and fine given by the trial court on April 20, 1996. The accused was ordered to be released on probation for a year after he furnished a personal bond of Rs 5,000 along with one surety of the like amount.

In a complaint against the accused, it was alleged that he injured a person after hitting him with his Matador on March 31, 1991 on the Ambala-Chandigarh road near the Zirakpur barrier. The accused was earlier directed to undergo RI for three months and pay Rs 100 fine and in default of payment, undergo further RI for five days under Section 337 IPC. He was further sentenced to undergo six-month RI and pay Rs 100 fine and in default undergo further 15-day RI under Section 338 IPC.

Zoo authorities asked to release bearn The request of zoo authorities seeking the court to direct applicants Hajju and Vijendra to pay the amount spent on the upkeep and feed of the sloth bear was today stated to be "untenable" by UT Judicial Magistrate (Ist Class) Paramvir Nijjar.

In her order directing the applicants to go and take custody of the bear after taking all precautionary measures, the Magistrate stated that the point regarding expenditure on the animal is not tenable because at the time when release of the animal was ordered, no such claims were made by the zoo authorities.